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Gandalf the Gay? It’s possible, says McKellen

Simon de Bruxelles

December 7 2013, 12:01am, The Times

Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf

Professor Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter’s music-loving head teacher, was “outed” by his author J.K. Rowling, but we will never know for certain about Gandalf, the wise, white-bearded wizard from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

His creator, J.R.R. Tolkein, gave no clues, but Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf in the series of Middle Earth films, was in a teasing mood when he was interviewed for The Times’ Review.

The actor, who “came out” in 1988 at the age of 49, told his interviewer, Stephanie Marsh, that if Dumbledore was gay, Gandalf could be too. He said: “Who’s to say that Gandalf isn’t gay? He seems to be quite asexual.”